Commentary on the Bracket

In the few years I've been doing this, I've always had to eliminate teams that I thought should be in the tournament. This year it's the opposite: I'm putting in the least bad teams.

The last four in today -- Villanova, Ohio State, Rhode Island and Syracuse -- have done little to make themselves a lock for anything. But, look at the next four -- Florida, Illinois State, UAB and Wake Forest. You can make a small case for Illinois State (#2 team in the #8 RPI league -- the same case for an AWFUL Air Force team a few years ago) and UAB (no real bad losses and they beat Kentucky). Ugh.

It will be interesting to see who the committee likes this season and their reasons for having teams in and out.

BracketBuster Winners
1. The Missouri Valley was a big winner in the annual Busters with their top five teams all getting big wins: Drake @ Butler, Illinois State v. Wright State, SIU v. Nevada, Creighton @ Oral Roberts and Bradley v. UWM. The Valley tournament should be top notch again this year.

2. Kent State. The Golden Flash made some noise for the first time since Stan Heath led them to within a game of the Final Four in the 2002 NCAA Tournament when the won at St. Mary's (the first team to do so this year). Kent State would be an "at-large IN" in today's bracket if needed. It also didn't hurt that conference mate Ohio game from way back to beat George Mason.

BubbleBusters?
After enduring four games that came down to the last possession in Big 12 losses, the Huskers are now ruining the Big 12 bubble having topped Kansas State and Texas A&M in back-to-back games. Both the Wildcats and the Aggies appear safe, but NU's next opponent -- Oklahoma -- comes to town on Wednesday for another big bubble game. A win in that game for Nebraska would give both teams 6-7 league records. But, remember, the Sooners are playing for their tournament lives.

NOTE: The Huskers beat consecutive ranked opponents for the first time since 1999 with the wins last week.

Teams we are watching
1. Kentucky -- Can Billy Gillespie's team come back from the dead? If the Wildcats are 18-11 going to the SEC Tournament and advance to the SEC semifinals can you really leave them out?

2. Ohio State -- They couldn't beat Wisconsin at home today and now the travel to Bloomington. If they lose to the Hoosiers, I'd think they need to win out: @ Minnesota, v. Michigan State and v. Purdue.

3. Syracuse -- The Orange are really good at home where they have a chance to beat Marquette and Pittsburgh before the Big East tournament. It's the game @ Seton Hall I'm more interested in.

4. The middle of the Atlantic 10 -- Will anyone give Xavier a fight in the league tournament? St. Joseph's, UMass and Rhode Island should have the best chance. If those teams advance to the final four of the touranment at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City they might all make the Big Dance.

5. Maryland @ Wake Forest -- The winner is likely in next week's bracket and the loser is likely out. What has happened to the Terps -- the loss at home to Va. Tech is unexcusable.